I've always been profoundly struck by Dostoyevsky's depiction of the devil. In The Brothers Karamazov, the devil says: "My best feelings, gratitude, for example, are formally forbidden solely because of my social position." It's something I think about very often.
Gratitude is a secret weapon for attracting more opportunities
11–20 of 110 posts
Re: Gratitude is a secret weapon for attracting more opportunities
#12Gratitude, kindness, and explicit acknowledgement of appreciation for others really does go a long way. However, I feel like I've been meeting more people in the workplace who read articles like this and implement it in a robotic, forced manner. Like they're using it as a tool to get what they want out of others, as opposed to a genuine expression of how they feel. Genuine gratitude goes much further than just going…
Reminds me of a movie adaptation of "A Brave New World" where everyone greets each other with "Hey how are you I'm great thank you".
likewise in Godard's (RIP) Alphaville
Re: Gratitude is a secret weapon for attracting more opportunities
#13Gratitude certainly unlocks more opportunities. The neat thing about gratitude is that if you practice it you find inner peace and don’t need the opportunities to be happy.
I've gotten in the habit of reflecting on gratitude whenever I'm sad or in a bad mood. It really changes things around for me personally. You don't have to force yourself, just thinking about gratitude in general is useful.
This is one of the tenets of Seneca’s stoicism, as I understand. “It could be worse, therefore I’m grateful it is not…”
Re: Gratitude is a secret weapon for attracting more opportunities
#14Gratitude, kindness, and explicit acknowledgement of appreciation for others really does go a long way. However, I feel like I've been meeting more people in the workplace who read articles like this and implement it in a robotic, forced manner. Like they're using it as a tool to get what they want out of others, as opposed to a genuine expression of how they feel. Genuine gratitude goes much further than just going…
Kind of how every salesperson gives the same canned response to any question during a Zoom call.
"So, do you charge extra for single-sign on?"
Yea. Wow. Great question. Many of our customers have asked...
Re: Gratitude is a secret weapon for attracting more opportunities
#15There are a lot of personal attributes and social behaviors that unlock opportunities. In the US a positive attitude, gratitude, and genuine interest are among them. In general just being pleasant to be around and personable will get you far in the engineering world because those qualities are often times lacking. When people managers are making decisions about resourcing I think that they are not honest with themselves about how much them 'liking' a person goes into their decision making process. Same for hiring.
If you are a terse and dour person, it isn't that you will experience more rejection per-se, it is just that opportunities will not even be presented to you because the person with the opportunity doesn't want to spend time in your presence.
Re: Gratitude is a secret weapon for attracting more opportunities
#16Gratitude, kindness, and explicit acknowledgement of appreciation for others really does go a long way. However, I feel like I've been meeting more people in the workplace who read articles like this and implement it in a robotic, forced manner. Like they're using it as a tool to get what they want out of others, as opposed to a genuine expression of how they feel. Genuine gratitude goes much further than just going…
I like to call this "toxic positivity". Forced cheeriness about the grind, the hustle, we're all in this together, etc. Better than negativity, but not by much.
I'm not sure it's better than negativity to be honest. Honest negativity is at least honest.
Re: Gratitude is a secret weapon for attracting more opportunities
#17Gratitude certainly unlocks more opportunities. The neat thing about gratitude is that if you practice it you find inner peace and don’t need the opportunities to be happy.
I've gotten in the habit of reflecting on gratitude whenever I'm sad or in a bad mood. It really changes things around for me personally. You don't have to force yourself, just thinking about gratitude in general is useful.
My wife and I do this regardless of mood: Each night during our moments of quiet time together, we talk about a few things that happened during the previous 12 hours that we're grateful for. This has become one of the best parts of the day for us.
Reviewing the day with gratitude is a core tenet of Ignatian mindfulness. I do an expanded version of the talk with my wife, with God, using a version of the instructions shown at https://www.ignatianspirituality.com/ignatian-prayer/the-exa...
Re: Gratitude is a secret weapon for attracting more opportunities
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
I like to call this "toxic positivity". Forced cheeriness about the grind, the hustle, we're all in this together, etc. Better than negativity, but not by much.
I'm not sure it's better than negativity to be honest. Honest negativity is at least honest.
Honesty, yes, that is what is missing.
Why the moral judgments on positive or negative? They both have their place. It’s the moralizing of positive or negative that causes problems in society.
And yes, I blame social media because advertisers love focusing on just the positive and not the negative.
Re: Gratitude is a secret weapon for attracting more opportunities
#19There are a lot of personal attributes and social behaviors that unlock opportunities. In the US a positive attitude, gratitude, and genuine interest are among them. In general just being pleasant to be around and personable will get you far in the engineering world because those qualities are often times lacking. When people managers are making decisions about resourcing I think that they are not honest with themsel…
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Re: Gratitude is a secret weapon for attracting more opportunities
#20Gratitude, kindness, and explicit acknowledgement of appreciation for others really does go a long way. However, I feel like I've been meeting more people in the workplace who read articles like this and implement it in a robotic, forced manner. Like they're using it as a tool to get what they want out of others, as opposed to a genuine expression of how they feel. Genuine gratitude goes much further than just going…
I like to call this "toxic positivity". Forced cheeriness about the grind, the hustle, we're all in this together, etc. Better than negativity, but not by much.
I don't think it's "forced" cheeriness as much as an expectation that develops over time as the vast majority looks for a "life hack" and runs that river dry.